Black History Month. Does your child's school do anything if there's not a large AA population?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's weird that you make your daughter present something on black history when it's not needed. So she just walks around asking teachers if she can present to get extra credit? Anyways, my child goes to a pgcps. They go all out for black history and it's annoying as fuck.

When is black history "not needed", and by whom is black history "not needed"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does the school celebrate women history month or American Indian history month or is it just not celebrating black history month?

I wouldn't be upset if they don't celebrate any other races/months, but would be if they just chose not to celebrate black history month.

I don't know if they celebrate women's history month. They actually do celebrate American Indian history month in November in conjunction with Columbus day.

Listen I get where you are going with this comment, but I think my question is still valid. African Americans in general are vilified on the news, in the media, in the political system, court system and such on a daily basis. My DD says all friends seem to be surprised to some extent at the information she provides when she does presentations during Black History month. All they seem to know about AA is MLK, Rosa Parks, and maybe some of the black players on the Redskins/Wizards teams. [u][b] American Indians, women, Jewish-Americans, Asian American and Latinos are not portrayed the same way AA are(or at least not in the same way). I would hope that non-AA parents would want to their children to know that AA are smart, can invent things, and have been an integral part of building this country that has nothing to do with slavery, MLK, or playing in the NBA. My daughter says that most of friends and their parents appear to afraid of black people in general.

So again, I'm just asking about BLACK HISTORY MONTH. If others are concerned about "women history month or American Indian history month" they can ask the question as well.

I went to a mostly white school and my kids are now in a mostly white school. Both schools did celebrate black history month - I remember doing book reports, school wide assemblies, etc. But... those things all really boiled down to the "headliners" like Rosa Parks and MLK. (with a little bit of George Washington Carver thrown in) I could probably recite I have a dream word-for-word, but we never moved beyond that.
So if you do approach the school in the hopes that they do something, I'd be very specific and very willing to help, otherwise I'd expect more of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. (And just because this is dcum and people will jump on the oddest things - of course I think children should learn about Rosa Parks and MLK, but as the OP suggested, not JUST about them.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd be more concerned about an inclusive curriculum in general as opposed to the "Flavor of the Month" approach. That's what I'd be focused on working toward.

Of course it would be ideal if the curriculum included everybody, since history is everybody.

But in case you wonder why we're stuck with the non-ideal "flavor of the month" approach -- well, read some of the PPs. At least "flavor of the month" is better than "those people didn't ever do anything historical anyway".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I went to a mostly white school and my kids are now in a mostly white school. Both schools did celebrate black history month - I remember doing book reports, school wide assemblies, etc. But... those things all really boiled down to the "headliners" like Rosa Parks and MLK. (with a little bit of George Washington Carver thrown in) I could probably recite I have a dream word-for-word, but we never moved beyond that.
So if you do approach the school in the hopes that they do something, I'd be very specific and very willing to help, otherwise I'd expect more of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. (And just because this is dcum and people will jump on the oddest things - of course I think children should learn about Rosa Parks and MLK, but as the OP suggested, not JUST about them.)

Yes, my kids in MCPS so far have mostly gotten Ruby Bridges, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King Jr -- with Rosa Parks being a nice lady who just wanted to rest her feet, and Martin Luther King Jr. being the guy who gave the "I have a dream" speech. Anything is better than nothing, I guess, but when they come home and say "Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. were boring," something is wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I went to a mostly white school and my kids are now in a mostly white school. Both schools did celebrate black history month - I remember doing book reports, school wide assemblies, etc. But... those things all really boiled down to the "headliners" like Rosa Parks and MLK. (with a little bit of George Washington Carver thrown in) I could probably recite I have a dream word-for-word, but we never moved beyond that.
So if you do approach the school in the hopes that they do something, I'd be very specific and very willing to help, otherwise I'd expect more of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. (And just because this is dcum and people will jump on the oddest things - of course I think children should learn about Rosa Parks and MLK, but as the OP suggested, not JUST about them.)

Yes, my kids in MCPS so far have mostly gotten Ruby Bridges, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King Jr -- with Rosa Parks being a nice lady who just wanted to rest her feet, and Martin Luther King Jr. being the guy who gave the "I have a dream" speech. Anything is better than nothing, I guess, but when they come home and say "Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. were boring," something is wrong.

my kid did not say they were boring. in fact - she usually tells me almost nothing about school (second grade) and she specifically told me about them. I was impressed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's weird that you make your daughter present something on black history when it's not needed. So she just walks around asking teachers if she can present to get extra credit? Anyways, my child goes to a pgcps. They go all out for black history and it's annoying as fuck.

OP Here,

I'm not sure why you think it's not needed. I didn't say anything in my original post to indicate that. And no she doesn't "just walks around asking teachers if she can present to get extra credit? " The first year she attended the school (2nd grade), I happened to ask her towards the end of February "Larla, is your class doing anything for BHM?" she said no. After the end of the month, I asked if they ever did anything and she said no. The second year (3rd grade), I asked in the beginning of the month if her class was doing anything, she said no. I then told her to ask her teacher if they were doing anything. She did and teacher said no. I told her, if she wanted to, this would be a great opportunity for her to be a leader and ask her teacher is she could do something for the class. She did not ask for extra credit because she doesn't need it, as I said earlier, she is already a straight A student. She thought about it and decided that she would like to do something. So during social studies class did a presentation on African American scientists. Teacher was impressed so was principal. She was then asked to make the presentation again for the entire 1st, 2nd, 3rd grade classes, the principal and resource staff. In the fourth grade, same scenario--teacher/class not doing anything. I told her again to volunteer to present something. She did a presentation on Black Americans physicians doing great things (even included something on Ben Carson). In 2014, again same scenario. My DD is a huge fan of Nelson Mandela. Because he died the previous year, she asked to do a presentation on his life. She said most of the kids in the class did not even know who he was, let alone that he died.

Last year her 6th grade teacher, just asked my DD flat out if she wanted to present something in January. DD didn't want to, but felt a little pressed. So she did something on The Harlem Renaissance. Later she said she was starting to feel like the spokesperson for all things black at her school. Hell, a couple of teachers asked her alone what "Hot Line Bling" was? and if she knew how to do "The Quan"?

Anyway, it is obvious to me that my DD doesn't want to be considered the all knowing black kid, so she already to me that she didn't want to present anything this year. I think she would love it if the other kids would actually be interested themselves and inquire as to why the classes aren't doing anything. I think that's what bothers her the most. That the other kids don't even seem to know that BHM even exists. Maybe the both of us are expecting to much from our community.

[Anonymous]

Non-aa here who grew up in urban modwest. My kids are in lower elementary at a title I school with a majority minority of Latinos in fairfax, and they learned about MLK. Hopefully they will learn about others as they progress through school. I grew up with tales at home regaling Booker T Washington, Rosa Parks, Washington Carver, and other AAs, as well as Chief Pontiac, Tecumsah, Sacagawea, etc. i think having a cultural understanding is important, but that a lot of it must start at home. This was made clear to me as I went through school and realized that European history in school really meant Western Europe ... and sometimes, Russia. The Europe of my ancestors was not covered, so I studied it on my own. Anyway, by starting at home I find my kids sharing with other kids, and those kids asking questions.

OP, I hope you find a way to increase our awareness ofAA contributions in schools. i also hope you can be an ambassador outside of school too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's weird that you make your daughter present something on black history when it's not needed. So she just walks around asking teachers if she can present to get extra credit? Anyways, my child goes to a pgcps. They go all out for black history and it's annoying as fuck.

OP Here,

I'm not sure why you think it's not needed. I didn't say anything in my original post to indicate that. And no she doesn't "just walks around asking teachers if she can present to get extra credit? " The first year she attended the school (2nd grade), I happened to ask her towards the end of February "Larla, is your class doing anything for BHM?" she said no. After the end of the month, I asked if they ever did anything and she said no. The second year (3rd grade), I asked in the beginning of the month if her class was doing anything, she said no. I then told her to ask her teacher if they were doing anything. She did and teacher said no. I told her, if she wanted to, this would be a great opportunity for her to be a leader and ask her teacher is she could do something for the class. She did not ask for extra credit because she doesn't need it, as I said earlier, she is already a straight A student. She thought about it and decided that she would like to do something. So during social studies class did a presentation on African American scientists. Teacher was impressed so was principal. She was then asked to make the presentation again for the entire 1st, 2nd, 3rd grade classes, the principal and resource staff. In the fourth grade, same scenario--teacher/class not doing anything. I told her again to volunteer to present something. She did a presentation on Black Americans physicians doing great things (even included something on Ben Carson). In 2014, again same scenario. My DD is a huge fan of Nelson Mandela. Because he died the previous year, she asked to do a presentation on his life. She said most of the kids in the class did not even know who he was, let alone that he died.

Last year her 6th grade teacher, just asked my DD flat out if she wanted to present something in January. DD didn't want to, but felt a little pressed. So she did something on The Harlem Renaissance. Later she said she was starting to feel like the spokesperson for all things black at her school. Hell, a couple of teachers asked her alone what "Hot Line Bling" was? and if she knew how to do "The Quan"?

Anyway, it is obvious to me that my DD doesn't want to be considered the all knowing black kid, so she already to me that she didn't want to present anything this year. I think she would love it if the other kids would actually be interested themselves and inquire as to why the classes aren't doing anything. I think that's what bothers her the most. That the other kids don't even seem to know that BHM even exists. Maybe the both of us are expecting to much from our community.

Is she the only black student in the school?

[Anonymous]

I went to a local comedian and he had a joke about growing up as the only black kid, he had to play MLK AND all the slaves for the annual BHM play. Funny joke, but sad commentary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's weird that you make your daughter present something on black history when it's not needed. So she just walks around asking teachers if she can present to get extra credit? Anyways, my child goes to a pgcps. They go all out for black history and it's annoying as fuck.

OP Here,

I'm not sure why you think it's not needed. I didn't say anything in my original post to indicate that. And no she doesn't "just walks around asking teachers if she can present to get extra credit? " The first year she attended the school (2nd grade), I happened to ask her towards the end of February "Larla, is your class doing anything for BHM?" she said no. After the end of the month, I asked if they ever did anything and she said no. The second year (3rd grade), I asked in the beginning of the month if her class was doing anything, she said no. I then told her to ask her teacher if they were doing anything. She did and teacher said no. I told her, if she wanted to, this would be a great opportunity for her to be a leader and ask her teacher is she could do something for the class. She did not ask for extra credit because she doesn't need it, as I said earlier, she is already a straight A student. She thought about it and decided that she would like to do something. So during social studies class did a presentation on African American scientists. Teacher was impressed so was principal. She was then asked to make the presentation again for the entire 1st, 2nd, 3rd grade classes, the principal and resource staff. In the fourth grade, same scenario--teacher/class not doing anything. I told her again to volunteer to present something. She did a presentation on Black Americans physicians doing great things (even included something on Ben Carson). In 2014, again same scenario. My DD is a huge fan of Nelson Mandela. Because he died the previous year, she asked to do a presentation on his life. She said most of the kids in the class did not even know who he was, let alone that he died.

Last year her 6th grade teacher, just asked my DD flat out if she wanted to present something in January. DD didn't want to, but felt a little pressed. So she did something on The Harlem Renaissance. Later she said she was starting to feel like the spokesperson for all things black at her school. Hell, a couple of teachers asked her alone what "Hot Line Bling" was? and if she knew how to do "The Quan"?

Anyway, it is obvious to me that my DD doesn't want to be considered the all knowing black kid, so she already to me that she didn't want to present anything this year. I think she would love it if the other kids would actually be interested themselves and inquire as to why the classes aren't doing anything. I think that's what bothers her the most. That the other kids don't even seem to know that BHM even exists. Maybe the both of us are expecting to much from our community.

Ugh. OP I'm sorry For your daughter's sitaution. I read this after I posted. Maybe as an out of the box idea in her sitaution -- maybe you or the PTA could really go all out in October -- it is heritage month for a lot of ethnicities (eg, Spanish, Italian, Polish, etc.) if your kid is feeling like the poster child for all things African American. Maybe that would take some of the pressure off of her in February. At the same time the maybe the school could celebrate Black History Month without putting a spotlight on her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 7th grade DD goes to a private school where the AA population is very small. They don't do anything for Black History Month. The librarian (who is AA) often puts up a display of books written by AA but that's all the school really does. For the last 3-4 years, I've pushed my daughter to do a small presentation for her class (about 5 minutes long) for which teacher usually gives her extra credit, but she's a straight A student so that's no big deal.

This year I was thinking to just let it go. It bothers me that the school doesn't do anything, but I know that's really my fault for me choosing to send her there knowing this could be an issue. I guess I just assumed most schools did something regardless of the school population. I went to a private school as well (not in this area) that was primarily, AA so we celebrated black history all year but had special programs, plays, speakers during the month of February.


So I was just WONDERING what other schools (public or private) do during the month that don't have a large AA population? Again, I'm just asking.

At our school - I am not sure they do anything specific for BHM. However, they did do some history around MLK day. Our school is very diverse - we have an "international night" in the fall when all the different cultures can participate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

At our school - I am not sure they do anything specific for BHM. However, they did do some history around MLK day. Our school is very diverse - we have an "international night" in the fall when all the different cultures can participate.

PP, at least at my school, International Night is when first-generation and second-generation immigrants to the US present their cultures. It's a bit problematic to suggest this in the context of African-Americans whose ancestors were forcibly brought to the US 200+ years ago, I think. But maybe I'm misunderstanding you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

At our school - I am not sure they do anything specific for BHM. However, they did do some history around MLK day. Our school is very diverse - we have an "international night" in the fall when all the different cultures can participate.

PP, at least at my school, International Night is when first-generation and second-generation immigrants to the US present their cultures. It's a bit problematic to suggest this in the context of African-Americans whose ancestors were forcibly brought to the US 200+ years ago, I think. But maybe I'm misunderstanding you.

At our school it isn't limited to recent immigrants. Perhaps it wouldn't be appropriate for OP - but I was trying to indicate that our school doesn't really push the different months (BHM in Feb, Asian American History Month in May, National Hispanic Heritage Month during the period from September 15 to October 15.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's weird that you make your daughter present something on black history when it's not needed. So she just walks around asking teachers if she can present to get extra credit? Anyways, my child goes to a pgcps. They go all out for black history and it's annoying as fuck.

OP Here,

I'm not sure why you think it's not needed. I didn't say anything in my original post to indicate that. And no she doesn't "just walks around asking teachers if she can present to get extra credit? " The first year she attended the school (2nd grade), I happened to ask her towards the end of February "Larla, is your class doing anything for BHM?" she said no. After the end of the month, I asked if they ever did anything and she said no. The second year (3rd grade), I asked in the beginning of the month if her class was doing anything, she said no. I then told her to ask her teacher if they were doing anything. She did and teacher said no. I told her, if she wanted to, this would be a great opportunity for her to be a leader and ask her teacher is she could do something for the class. She did not ask for extra credit because she doesn't need it, as I said earlier, she is already a straight A student. She thought about it and decided that she would like to do something. So during social studies class did a presentation on African American scientists. Teacher was impressed so was principal. She was then asked to make the presentation again for the entire 1st, 2nd, 3rd grade classes, the principal and resource staff. In the fourth grade, same scenario--teacher/class not doing anything. I told her again to volunteer to present something. She did a presentation on Black Americans physicians doing great things (even included something on Ben Carson). In 2014, again same scenario. My DD is a huge fan of Nelson Mandela. Because he died the previous year, she asked to do a presentation on his life. She said most of the kids in the class did not even know who he was, let alone that he died.

Last year her 6th grade teacher, just asked my DD flat out if she wanted to present something in January. DD didn't want to, but felt a little pressed. So she did something on The Harlem Renaissance. Later she said she was starting to feel like the spokesperson for all things black at her school. Hell, a couple of teachers asked her alone what "Hot Line Bling" was? and if she knew how to do "The Quan"?

Anyway, it is obvious to me that my DD doesn't want to be considered the all knowing black kid, so she already to me that she didn't want to present anything this year. I think she would love it if the other kids would actually be interested themselves and inquire as to why the classes aren't doing anything. I think that's what bothers her the most. That the other kids don't even seem to know that BHM even exists. Maybe the both of us are expecting to much from our community.

Is she the only black student in the school?

No she is not. Without giving to much away --there are about 10 African students that clearly identify as African, about 10 African-American and maybe 25 that identify as bi-racial (black/white). The school does have about fifty Hispanic/Latino children (I could be wrong about this) and maybe 25 Asian students who mostly have white parents.

I'm not expecting the school to put on a stage play of Raisin in Sun or make the students recite poems from Langston Hughes as I did when I was in school. But I am surprised that there seems to be no recognition at all. That's why I wanted to know what what other schools did that were not primarily AA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's weird that you make your daughter present something on black history when it's not needed. So she just walks around asking teachers if she can present to get extra credit? Anyways, my child goes to a pgcps. They go all out for black history and it's annoying as fuck.

OP Here,

I'm not sure why you think it's not needed. I didn't say anything in my original post to indicate that. And no she doesn't "just walks around asking teachers if she can present to get extra credit? " The first year she attended the school (2nd grade), I happened to ask her towards the end of February "Larla, is your class doing anything for BHM?" she said no. After the end of the month, I asked if they ever did anything and she said no. The second year (3rd grade), I asked in the beginning of the month if her class was doing anything, she said no. I then told her to ask her teacher if they were doing anything. She did and teacher said no. I told her, if she wanted to, this would be a great opportunity for her to be a leader and ask her teacher is she could do something for the class. She did not ask for extra credit because she doesn't need it, as I said earlier, she is already a straight A student. She thought about it and decided that she would like to do something. So during social studies class did a presentation on African American scientists. Teacher was impressed so was principal. She was then asked to make the presentation again for the entire 1st, 2nd, 3rd grade classes, the principal and resource staff. In the fourth grade, same scenario--teacher/class not doing anything. I told her again to volunteer to present something. She did a presentation on Black Americans physicians doing great things (even included something on Ben Carson). In 2014, again same scenario. My DD is a huge fan of Nelson Mandela. Because he died the previous year, she asked to do a presentation on his life. She said most of the kids in the class did not even know who he was, let alone that he died.

Last year her 6th grade teacher, just asked my DD flat out if she wanted to present something in January. DD didn't want to, but felt a little pressed. So she did something on The Harlem Renaissance. Later she said she was starting to feel like the spokesperson for all things black at her school. Hell, a couple of teachers asked her alone what "Hot Line Bling" was? and if she knew how to do "The Quan"?

Anyway, it is obvious to me that my DD doesn't want to be considered the all knowing black kid, so she already to me that she didn't want to present anything this year. I think she would love it if the other kids would actually be interested themselves and inquire as to why the classes aren't doing anything. I think that's what bothers her the most. That the other kids don't even seem to know that BHM even exists. Maybe the both of us are expecting to much from our community.

Is she the only black student in the school?

No she is not. Without giving to much away --there are about 10 African students that clearly identify as African, about 10 African-American and maybe 25 that identify as bi-racial (black/white). The school does have about fifty Hispanic/Latino children (I could be wrong about this) and maybe 25 Asian students who mostly have white parents.

I'm not expecting the school to put on a stage play of Raisin in Sun or make the students recite poems from Langston Hughes as I did when I was in school. But I am surprised that there seems to be no recognition at all. That's why I wanted to know what what other schools did that were not primarily AA.

That does seem odd. Wouldn't they want ALL their students to have an appreciation of diversity and history?